Israeli Attack Kills 22 People In Gaza Amid US Efforts To Push Ceasefire

JAKARTA - Israeli military attacks in Gaza killed 22 people. This continued attack comes as the US steppes up efforts to address the issue between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire to end the war.

Reported by Reuters, one of the airstrikes killed 10 people in a graded building in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City on Wednesday, January 8. Meanwhile, another attack killed five people on the outskirts of Zeitoun, medics said.

In the city of Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians took refuge, Israeli airstrikes killed three others.

In Jabalia, where soldiers operated for more than three weeks, Israeli airstrikes killed four people, medics said.

On Tuesday, Israeli military attacks killed 24 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, with two airstrikes hitting a camp tent in Mawasi, west of the southern city of Khan Younis, killing 18 people. The death toll included several women and children.

There was no comment from the Israeli military on the incident.

As Israel continued to carry out bombings, the US, Qatar and Egypt made their most intensive efforts in recent months to reach a ceasefire, and one of the sources close to the negotiations said this was the most serious attempt to reach an agreement so far.

The upcoming end of the US administration has called for final efforts to reach an agreement before President Joe Biden leaves office, and many parties in the region view Donald Trump's inauguration of President-elect on January 20 as an unofficial deadline.

"Everything is better than before, but there is no agreement yet," the source told Reuters.

But over time, the two sides accused each other of obstructing the deal by following the conditions that had thwarted all previous peace efforts for more than a year.

On Tuesday, Hamas defended their demands that they would only release the remaining hostages if Israel agreed to end the war and withdraw all its troops from Gaza.

Israel says it will not end the war until Hamas is dissolved and all hostages are released.